GAR Hall, Big Rock ball field hope for sip of Pepsi grants

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Updated: July 3, 2011 2:27AM

Two Kane County groups are hoping that grants from Pepsi can help them finish projects they’ve been working on for years.

The GAR Hall in Aurora and the Kenny Field in Big Rock are finalists in the Pepsi Refresh Everything grant contest. Representatives from both projects are seeking $50,000 to help them make major improvements at their respective sites.

Rena Church, director and curator of Aurora’s Grand Army of the Republic Hall, said she has been searching everywhere for grants to make up some of the approximately $600,000 still needed to complete renovations at the building on Downer Place downtown.

“Historic architecture has to be done right. You can’t cut corners,” Church said. “The city has been wonderful, but after 2008, with the economy in shambles we just couldn’t go on (taking city funds), and that’s completely understandable.”

The hall was dedicated in 1878 as a home for Post 20 of the GAR, a fraternal order of Union veterans of the Civil War. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is ordinarily home to dozens of Civil War artifacts.

More than $1.6 million has been spent so far stabilizing the exterior and interior. Erosion had the building slipping closer to the Fox River, but the hall has been secured. Work remains for the interior and exterior of the building.

Last year, the GAR Hall received a $55,000 grant from American Express to replace the stained glass windows. Now, Church is hoping a $50,000 Pepsi grant will finish repairing the stone work and mortar between the bricks.

Hinckley-Big Rock baseball coach Matt Olson is also hoping to use a Pepsi grant to improve a local landmark. Olson applied for a $50,000 grant to renovate Kenny Field in Big Rock.

According to the online applications, Olson would use the funds to improve the field’s drainage system, improve the playing surface, and repair the dugouts, stands, backstop and lights.

“I’m the right person to make this project happen because I have people in the community ready to help make this dream come true,” Olson wrote in the application.

Olson said with donated labor, the $50,000 grant would be worth $100,000 to the community.

Anyone can vote online for the projects at www.refresheverything.com. The voting runs through July 31.

The 10 projects receiving the most votes in the $50,000 category will be funded. Neither of the local projects were in the top 10 as of Friday.

Find more information about the GAR Hall by searching “Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall” on Facebook. Search “Kenny Field Project” on Facebook to learn more about the effort in Big Rock.